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For the mom who was told she could have it all
You know that feeling when you technically have a great life, a good job, a flexible setup, a supportive partner, healthy kids, and you’re still staring at the ceiling thinking, “Wait… why does this still feel so impossible?”
This week, Holly and Anna sat down with Sam Storz, a corporate working mom, content creator, Bravo girlie, and the kind of person who makes you feel like you’re texting a friend from the school pickup line.
Sam shared so honestly about her path to motherhood, including an unexpected pregnancy, a missed miscarriage, the anxiety of pregnancy after loss, and the way motherhood changed what she thought she wanted from her career, her time, and her life.
And whew. This one is for the moms who were raised to hustle, achieve, earn, build, prove, provide, and then became moms and thought…
“Okay, but what if I don’t want to give my whole life to work anymore?”
When work still matters, but it’s not first anymore
Sam said something that felt so familiar: she is still a high performer. She still cares about doing excellent work. She still wants to show up well.
But motherhood shifted the order.
Now, she wants to do the best job she can as a mom first, and work comes behind that.
That doesn’t mean work is meaningless. It doesn’t mean ambition disappeared. It just means the old “grind at all costs” version of success does not fit the same way anymore.
And for a lot of moms, especially moms who have built careers and carry real financial responsibility for their families, that shift can feel complicated. Because it’s not always as simple as “just quit your job.” Sometimes you love parts of your work. Sometimes your family needs your income. Sometimes both things are true at the same time.
The math does not math
One of the biggest themes of this conversation was the impossible equation so many working moms are trying to solve.
Morning shift with the kids.
Work shift during the day.
Evening shift with dinner, baths, bedtime, tantrums, lunches, laundry, and the 37 tiny tasks nobody sees.
And then maybe, if the stars align, one hour at night to sit with your husband, text a friend back, or watch something on Bravo that requires absolutely zero brain cells.
Sam put words to what so many moms are feeling:
We were told we could have it all, but nobody really explained that we might not be able to have it all at the exact same time, at the exact same intensity, without burning out.
Yeah, the math does not math.
The village is not optional
Sam talked about how much she depends on mom friends in the same season and moms a season or two ahead.
Because sometimes you need someone to say, “This won’t last forever.”
And sometimes you need someone to say, “No, you’re right. This phase is actually insane.”
Motherhood can feel weirdly isolating even when you have friends, because everyone is also drowning in their own daycare drop-offs, potty training attempts, work calls, bedtime battles, and snack negotiations. That’s why community matters so much. Not because it magically fixes everything, but because it reminds you that you are not failing. You are human. You are carrying a lot. And you were never meant to do this alone.
Work flexibility is not a perk, it’s survival
The recruiter in Sam came out in the best way when she reminded moms that interviews go both ways.
Yes, you are being interviewed by a company. But you are also interviewing them.
If you are in a season where kids get sick, daycare closes, appointments pop up, and life refuses to operate on a clean calendar, flexibility is not some cute little bonus. It is survival.
Sam’s encouragement to working moms: know your worth. Moms are already project managing entire households while showing up at work. That kind of capacity, adaptability, and problem-solving matters.
And if a workplace cannot understand that, it is fair to ask whether that workplace can actually support the life you are living right now.
We can love our kids and still need a minute
This conversation also got into the very real, very unfiltered parts of motherhood: potty training, crib climbing, big boy beds, bedtime chaos, daycare drop-offs, and the kind of mental load that makes you want to scream when someone says, “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
Because yes, we love our people.
And also, sometimes we do not want to be the household project manager, bedtime negotiator, snack coordinator, emotional thermostat, laundry tracker, and keeper of all invisible things.
Sam and her husband don’t have a perfect chart or monthly family meeting system. They communicate as they go, try to pick up the slack for each other, and keep naming what’s hard before resentment has time to build a second home in the living room.
Which feels refreshingly realistic.
A few things we loved from Sam
Sam reminded us that this season is not forever, even when it feels never-ending.
She reminded us that asking for help is not failure.
She reminded us that you can be a great mom and a great employee and still not be able to give 100% to everything at the same time.
She reminded us that some seasons are for grinding, and some seasons are for being present, simplifying, protecting your capacity, and letting “good enough” be a legitimate strategy.
And she reminded us that sometimes the most helpful thing we can say out loud is simply: this is not working.
Feeling this tension right now?
If this conversation hit a little too close to home, we’d love to walk with you. Get Mom Ready coaching is for the mom who is trying to figure out who she is in the middle of work, motherhood, marriage, identity, overwhelm, and all the in-between.
You can learn more about coaching by booking a call with Meredith or send us a DM on Instagram @getmomready.
Links from this episode & Sam’s skincare routine
Follow Sam on Instagram: @itssamstorz
Morning:
Dampen a clean skincare club towel with filtered water & wipe over my face - no facewash Clean Towels | Premium Face Towels for Clean, Clear Skin – Clean Skin Club *working to get a discount code for your listeners*
A few spritzes of peptide spray on my face (and I rub in a bit with my hands) BLUE PEPTIDE SPRAY – Young Goose
a pump and a 1/2 of this advanced retinal serum Osmosis Renew MD Advanced – Advanced Retinal Serum (this is my fave product, if you could only get one of these products, I’d choose this!)
a pump and a 1/2 of stemfactor growth serum (this is VERY expensive so I only order twice a year and so I dont use it every day) Osmosis StemFactor - Growth Factor Serum
a pump and a half of moisturizer Young Goose Youth Daily – Moisturizing Cream
SPF - elta MD https://amzn.to/4aDPSav
Night:
Once a week - Osmosis Polish MD Advanced – Cranberry Enzyme Mask holy grail product for me!
Cleanser: ADAPTOGENIC CLEANSER – Young Goose
Take a pump or two of cleanser and rub vigorously into my skin, dry, no water
dampen my hands with water and take fingers and rub into my face, creating a bit of foam
take my cleansing cloth and wipe my face
then my same routine as morning - peptide spray, serums and end with moisturizer C.A.R.E. | NEW FORMULA – Young Goose
and if you are looking for an extra - EYEC.A.R.E. – Young Goose
These products are expensive unfortunately and if someone could only afford to start with 1 or 2, I would recommend the Advanced Retinal serum (I felt like I saw that biggest difference right away with that and the Cranberry enzyme mask - you will notice an immediate difference and glow with your skin).. third would be the youth daily moisturizing cream. I wish I had a discount code for people but if you sign up for a subscription you can get it cheaper and then you can always cancel anytime- little hack there!
MAKEUP:
Toups & co is a woman founded, family run, small non-toxic makeup brand based in Alabama! I am OBSESSED with them! Their makeup is soooo good and I feel great knowing that I am putting products on my skin that won’t cause me harm
Discount code: SAMSTORZ for 15% off: https://toupsandco.com/SAMSTORZ
The products I personally use for a quick 5 min mom makeup routine
Primer (you forget how much of a difference this makes until you actually put it on!) Flawless Face Primer – Toups and Co Organics
tiny bit of concealer under my eyes (to make people think I slept more than 5 hours) Concealer – Toups and Co Organics
tiny bit of foundation - LOVE that you can order sample packs for cheap to find your perfect summer/winter colors! Literally $6.80 with my discount code Sample Set - Liquid Foundation – Toups and Co Organics
bronzer for a little contour - Bronzer – Toups and Co Organics
love this cream cheek tint - Cream Cheek Tint – Toups and Co Organics
I also love their eye liner, brow pencil and eye shadows but these aren’t something I’m using everyday for daycare drop offs
the only makeup I use that is NOT toups and co is mascara - gotta keep it real, I do NOT love their mascara, so I use https://amzn.to/4wnbcJA
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